Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-kl2l2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-09-04T03:54:14.086Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding Rural Identities and Environmental Policy Attitudes in America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

Emily P. Diamond Open the ORCID record for Emily P. Diamond [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Attitudinal differences between urban and rural voters in America have been in the spotlight in recent years and engaging rural populations politically has been growing in importance, particularly since the 2016 presidential election. Meanwhile, social and geographic sorting is increasing the salience of a rural identity that drives distinct policy preferences. While recent research has examined how rural identities drive social and economic policy preferences, rural Americans are also particularly relevant to the fate of environmental policy. Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners manage huge portions of American lands and watersheds and are important stakeholders in the implementation of environmental policies. Despite this, the environmental policy preferences of rural Americans have received little attention from the research community. This study fills a gap in the literature by investigating how collective identities among rural Americans drive environmental policy preferences. Through eight focus groups and thirty-five interviews with rural voters across America (total n=105), this study explores how four components of rural American identity—connection to nature, resentment/disenfranchisement, rootedness, and self-reliance—inform specific rural perspectives on environmental policy. The findings have implications for how to best design, communicate, and implement environmental policies in a way that can better engage rural Americans on this issue.

Information

Type
Environmental Politics
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 21 , Issue 2: Special Section: Green Political Science , June 2023 , pp. 502 - 518
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

A list of permanent links to Supplemental Materials provided by the author precedes the References section.

The author would like to thank the co-investigators of this project—Robert Bonnie, Frederick Mayer, and Elizabeth Rowe; Jay Campbell and Claire Graebner at Hart Research Associates and Lori Weigel at New Bridge Strategy, who helped design, execute, and analyze the focus groups; as well as the students who contributed to the data collection and analysis: Emma Fulop, Emma Lietz-Bilecky, Shane O’Neal, Sarah Lanier, James Ray, and Sarina Weiss. She would also like to acknowledge the Hewlett Foundation, the Wilburforce Foundation, and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions for providing funding.

References

Abrams, Dominic. 1985. “Focus of Attention in Minimal Intergroup Discrimination.” British Journal of Social Psychology 24(1): 65–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajilore, Olugbenga, and Willingham, Zoe. 2019. Redefining Rural America. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress. Retrieved March 25, 2021 (https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2019/07/17/471877/redefining-rural-america/).Google Scholar
Alkon, Alison Hope, and Traugot, Michael. 2008. “Place Matters, but How? Rural Identity, Environmental Decision Making, and the Social Construction of Place.” City & Community 7(2): 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allott, Daniel. 2020. “Overcoming the Democrats’ Rural Problem.” The Hill. Retrieved April 29, 2020 (https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/528958-overcoming-the-democrats-rural-problem).Google Scholar
Berenguer, Jaime, Corraliza, José A., and Martín, Rocío. 2005. “Rural-Urban Differences in Environmental Concern, Attitudes, and Actions.” European Journal of Psychological Assessment 21(2): 128–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonnie, Robert, Diamond, Emily, and Rowe, Elizabeth. 2020. Understanding Rural Attitudes toward the Environment and Conservation in America. Durham, NC: Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.Google Scholar
Bostrom, Meg. 2003. Perceptions and Misperceptions. Public Knowledge, LLC. Retrieved January 17, 2019 (https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/publication/perceptions-misperceptions-an-analysis-of-qualitative-research-exploring-views-of-rural-america/).Google Scholar
Brandenburg, Andrea M., and Carroll, Matthew S.. 1995. “Your Place or Mine? The Effect of Place Creation on Environmental Values and Landscape Meanings.” Society & Natural Resources 8(5): 381–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, Virginia, and Clarke, Victoria. 2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brehm, Joan M., Eisenhauer, Brian W., and Krannich, Richard S.. 2006. “Community Attachments as Predictors of Local Environmental Concern: The Case for Multiple Dimensions of Attachment.” American Behavioral Scientist 50(2): 142–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. B. 1979. “In-Group Bias in the Minimal Intergroup Situation: A Cognitive-Motivational Analysis.” Psychological Bulletin 86(2): 307–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunting, Trudi E., and Cousins, Larry R.. 1985. “Environmental Dispositions among School-Age Children: A Preliminary Investigation.” Environment and Behavior 17(6): 725–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrus, Giuseppe, Bonaiuto, Marino, and Bonnes, Mirilia. 2005. “Environmental Concern, Regional Identity, and Support for Protected Areas in Italy.” Environment and Behavior 37(2): 237–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ching, Barbara, and Creed, Gerald W.. 1997. “Recognizing Rusticity: Identity and the Power of Place.” In Knowing Your Place: Rural Identity and Cultural Hierarchy, ed. Ching, Barbara and Creed, Gerald W.. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Clayton, Susan. 2003. “Environmental Identity: A Conceptual and an Operational Definition.” In Identity and the Natural Environment, ed. Clayton, Susan and Opotow, Susan, 45–65. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clayton, Susan, and Opotow, Susan, eds. 2003. Identity and the Natural Environment: The Psychological Significance of Nature. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cramer, Katherine J. 2016. The Politics of Resentment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daryanto, Ahmad, and Song, Zening. 2021. “A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Place Attachment and Pro-Environmental Behaviour.” Journal of Business Research 123: 208–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, Michael C. 1995. Behind the Mule. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Emily P. 2020. “The Influence of Identity Salience on Framing Effectiveness: An Experiment.” Political Psychology 41(6): 1133–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drutman, Lee. 2018. “America Has Local Political Institutions but Nationalized Politics. This Is a Problem.” Vox. Retrieved April 29, 2021 (https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2018/5/31/17406590/local-national-political-institutions-polarization-federalism).Google Scholar
Freudenburg, William R. 1991. “Rural-Urban Differences in Environmental Concern: A Closer Look*.” Sociological Inquiry 61(2): 167–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallay, Erin, Marckini-Polk, Lisa, Schroeder, Brandon, and Flanagan, Constance. 2016. “Place-Based Stewardship Education: Nurturing Aspirations to Protect the Rural Commons.” Peabody Journal of Education 91(2): 155–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gimpel, James G., Lovin, Nathan, Moy, Bryant, and Reeves, Andrew. 2020. “The Urban–Rural Gulf in American Political Behavior.” Political Behavior 42(4): 1343–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, Donald P., Palmquist, Bradley, and Schickler, Eric. 2002. Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Greenlee, Jill S. 2014. The Political Consequences of Motherhood. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, Lawrence C., Colocousis, Chris R., and Duncan, Cynthia M.. 2010. “Place Effects on Environmental Views.” Rural Sociology 75(2): 326–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendee, John C. 1969. “Rural-Urban Differences Reflected in Outdoor Recreation Participation.” Journal of Leisure Research 1(4): 333–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinds, Joe, and Sparks, Paul. 2008. “Engaging with the Natural Environment: The Role of Affective Connection and Identity.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 28(2): 109–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2016. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. New York: New Press.Google Scholar
Huddy, Leonie. 2001. “From Social to Political Identity: A Critical Examination of Social Identity Theory.” Political Psychology 22(1): 127–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie. 2015. “Group Identity and Political Cohesion.” In Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved April 8, 2016 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0155/abstract).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Institute of Medicine (US) Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine. 2006. “The Social Environment in Rural America.” In Rebuilding the Unity of Health and the Environment in Rural America, ed. Merchant, James, Coussens, Christine, and Gilbert, Dalia, 25–46. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved January 17, 2019 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56967/).Google Scholar
Jacobs, Nicholas F., and Munis, B. Kal. 2019. “Place-Based Imagery and Voter Evaluations: Experimental Evidence on the Politics of Place.” Political Research Quarterly 72(2): 263–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, Paige, and Lobao, Linda. 2019. “The Social Bases of Rural-Urban Political Divides: Social Status, Work, and Sociocultural Beliefs.” Rural Sociology 84(4): 669–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klar, Samara. 2013. “The Influence of Competing Identity Primes on Political Preferences.” Journal of Politics 75(4): 1108–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klar, Samara. 2014. “Partisanship in a Social Setting.” American Journal of Political Science 58(3): 687–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, George D., and Pinhey, Thomas K.. 1982. “Rural-Urban Differences in Support for Environmental Protection.” Rural Sociology 47(1): 114–28.Google Scholar
Mason, Lilliana. 2016. “A Cross-Cutting Calm: How Social Sorting Drives Affective Polarization.” Public Opinion Quarterly 80(S1): 351–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, Lilliana. 2018. Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBeth, Mark K., and Foster, Richard H.. 1994. “Rural Environmental Attitudes.” Environmental Management 18(3): 401–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mead, H.G. 1934. Mind, Self, and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Lester W., and Sahr, Robert C.. 1975. “Perceptions of Environmental Quality.” Social Indicators Research 1(4): 397–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Arthur H., Gurin, Patricia, Gurin, Gerald, and Malanchuk, Oksana. 1981. “Group Consciousness and Political Participation.” American Journal of Political Science 25(3): 494–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munis, B. Kal. 2020. “Us Over Here versus Them Over There … Literally: Measuring Place Resentment in American Politics.” Political Behavior. April 29, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09641-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munis, B. Kal. 2021. “Place, Candidate Roots, and Voter Preferences in an Age of Partisan Polarization: Observational and Experimental Evidence.” Political Geography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102345CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdock, Steve H., and Schriner, Eldon. 1977. “Social and Economic Determinants of the Level of Support for Environmental Protection and Economic Growth in a Rural Population.” In Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Niskanen Center. 2019. “Explaining the Urban-Rural Political Divide.” Retrieved March 23, 2021 (https://www.niskanencenter.org/explaining-the-urban-rural-political-divide/).Google Scholar
Parker, Kim, Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, Brown, Anna, Richard Fry, D’vera Cohn, and Igielnik, Ruth. 2018. How Urban, Suburban and Rural Residents’ View Social and Political Issues. Pew Research Center. Retrieved December 27, 2018 (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/05/22/urban-suburban-and-rural-residents-views-on-key-social-and-political-issues/).Google Scholar
Relph, Edward. 1976. “Place and Placelessness.” London: Pion.Google Scholar
Relph, Edward. 1997. “Sense of Place.” In Ten Geographic Ideas That Changed the World, ed. Hanson, Susan. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Ryden, Kent C. 1993. Mapping the Invisible Landscape: Folklore, Writing, and the Sense of Place. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanchez, Gabriel R., and Vargas, Edward D.. 2016. “Taking a Closer Look at Group Identity: The Link between Theory and Measurement of Group Consciousness and Linked Fate.” Political Research Quarterly 69(1): 160–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scannell, Leila, and Gifford, Robert. 2013. “Personally Relevant Climate Change: The Role of Place Attachment and Local versus Global Message Framing in Engagement.” Environment and Behavior 45(1): 60–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, Jessica. 2017. “NC in Focus: Revisiting the 2016 Population Estimates.” Carolina Demography. Retrieved August 16, 2018 (https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/2017/12/12/nc-in-focus-revisiting-the-2016-population-estimates/).Google Scholar
Stedman, Richard C. 2002. “Toward a Social Psychology of Place: Predicting Behavior from Place-Based Cognitions, Attitude, and Identity.” Environment and Behavior 34(5): 561–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stets, Jan E., and Biga, Chris F.. 2003. “Bringing Identity Theory into Environmental Sociology.” Sociological Theory 21(4): 398–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. P., and Flament, Claude. 1971. “Social Categorization and Intergroup Behaviour.” European Journal of Social Psychology 1(2): 149–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and Turner, John C.. 1986. “The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior.” In Psychology of Intergroup Relations, ed. Worchel, S. and Austin, W.G., 7–24. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar
Takahashi, Bruno, and Selfa, Theresa. 2015. “Predictors of Pro-Environmental Behavior in Rural American Communities.” Environment and Behavior 47(8): 856–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tippett, Rebecca. 2016. “The Persistent ‘Rurality’ of North Carolina.” Carolina Demography. Retrieved August 16, 2018 (https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/2016/03/21/the-persistent-rurality-of-north-carolina/).Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2016a. American Communities Survey 2012–2016. Data available at https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data/data-tables-and-tools/data-profiles/2016/.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2016b. “New Census Data Show Differences between Urban and Rural Populations.” Retrieved November 30, 2017 (https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html).Google Scholar
U.S. EPA. 2015. “Clean Water Rule: Definition of ‘Waters of the United States.’” Retrieved August 16, 2018 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/06/29/2015-13435/clean-water-rule-definition-of-waters-of-the-united-states).Google Scholar
Vaske, Jerry J., and Kobrin, Katherine C.. 2001. “Place Attachment and Environmentally Responsible Behavior.” Journal of Environmental Education 32(4): 16–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Washington Post–Kaiser Family Foundation. 2017. Survey of Rural America. Retrieved August 16, 2018 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/national/washington-post-kaiser-family-foundation-rural-and-small-town-america-poll/2217/).Google Scholar
Wuthrow, Robert. 2018. The Left Behind. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Diamond supplementary material

Appendices A-C

Download Diamond supplementary material(File)
File 32.2 KB